Third year, Simone Stevens sucked on the end of her quill while she furiously read the book in front of her, unaware that she was dying her lips blue from the ink. She was alone, which is a strange sight for those around her, not because of her complex and vast social life, but because her robe is hemmed with the yellow and white trimmings of a Hufflepuff. Her usual partner was unfortunately away this Christmas, and so she was taking the opportunity to study ahead so she could lead the study group next Semester.
The library was warm. Madame Pince was giving her a special favour by letter her stay after hours. Pince was a Hufflepuff herself once, and she knew how troubling it was to be alone over Christmas, so it was 8pm; An hour before curfew, when Simone finally filed her books away. She summoned an orb of light to guide her way before she began to wander down the corridors back to the common room, warmed by the thick, charmed cloak her Muggle parents had sent her as a gift.
Meanwhile, in the dark, dank chambers of the Slytherin commons, fourth year, Bartimeus Nott was inwardly fuming. How dare that half-blood wench reject his advances! Did she not know that he was the second son of one of the most powerful Pureblood families in Britain, if not the world!
The door to the commons flew open of its own accord as he stormed out in rage and shame. He stalked down the corridors, following no particular pattern as he tried to regain control of his anger. It wouldn't be good for him to be caught by another of his house-mates. It would show his weakness.
It was just as he was coming to his senses that he heard light footsteps coming down the corridor. He leaned quietly against the wall of the secret passage he was in as he watched a Hufflepuff girl stroll past him. A mudblood he recognised from third year. Supposedly she was one of the better students in her year too. He'd overheard other third years talking about her in the Great Hall. Seeing the brilliant opportunity to earn some favour, he stepped out from behind the one way mirror.
"Immobulus!"
Just as Simone finished turning, the aqua light of the spell stuck her stomach. The air seemed to harden around her, locking her body in place despite the unbalanced angle she was tilted at. Unable to see his face, she could only notice his Slytherin trimmings before he muttered something under his breath causing the orb of light above her to dissipate. First blinded by sudden change in lighting, and then more-so as a purple spell splashed across her face accompanied by incredible itching. She found herself helpless as the warmth of several spells enveloped her, causing the unscratchable itch to spread across her entire body.
"Reducto!"
The blasting spell slammed into her shoulder. Had she been a muggle, the spell would have removed her arm from her body in a bloody explosion. As it was, she felt a sharp pain as it cracked against her. She was sure she heard it break as it was held stiff by the Immobulus spell.
"Reducto. Reducto-Reducto."
Three more bursts of pain as her other arm, torso and ribs were shattered by the spells. She found herself unable to cry out in pain as the natural bleed-off from the spells caused the Immobulus to fade. She felt her legs give way as she crumpled to the ground, landing on her broken shoulder. As she lay on the ground, she was barely conscious of the pain from the popped boils, and an oozing wetness dribbling down her skin.
The last things she heard were a murmured, "Mudblood bitch," followed by, "Stupefy," which ended the pain she was feeling all over her skin, sending her into blissful oblivion.
A Week Later...
The Hufflepuff chamber was almost completely black, not to protect the identity of those within, but to symbolise that whatever identity or reputation a student may hold, within this chamber they were all equal. A grey beam of light came from the cealing, illumintating the outline of this weeks chairman. In order to give every Hufflepuff leadership experience, Helga devised a system where every Sixth Year student was given the opportunity to take the centre stage.
The dull murmur filling the auditorium faded away when the cloaked figure rose from the simple wooden chair in the centre of the room.
"Let us begin the Self-Empowerment Ritual," He began, starting a simple chant, "Badger. Badger. Badger. Badger."
He was joined by his fellow sixth and seventh years, "Badger! Badger! Badger! Badger!"
And then, the room filled with a roar as a cacophony of voices joined in frenzied tones, "BADGER! BADGER! BADGER! BADGER!"
A person with supremely good night vision and eagle-like eyes would make out the grinning faces of the Hufflepuff students surrounding the dias as they completed the simple roaring chant. They fell silent once more as their attention went back to the Chairman.
"This meeting has been called to address an... Issue that has emerged over Christmas break. It has come to my attention, that one of our members was ambushed and attacked by an elder student, apparently from behind the Mirror Passage on the fifth floor. This student was afflicted with combination of spells, causing her to simultaneously be covered with horrific boils coupled with a spell that blinded her, making her unable to identify her attacker. The attacker also hit her with several bludgeoning spells before rendering her unconscious. Finally, he proceeded to burn off her hair, which caused serious scarring. She was found by Filch several minutes later when he noticed her foot hanging out of the secret passage."
"Fortunately, Poppy was able to heal all of the damage done to her within this week, including growing her hair back. It was only the time taken to heal the damage that has caused us to delay this meeting for so long. While our student was unable to identify the assailant, upon interrogating several members of Slytherin house, the attacker was revealed to us."
Light flooded the room as the door to the dias was opened. A pair of elder students dragged the unconscious form of Bartimeus Nott towards the wooden chair in the middle of the room. As the door closed behind them, a three beams of light stemmed forth. Two the same as the dull light that illuminated the chairperson, and one white, completely illuminating the Slytherin, who was now being deposited on the chair. A pair of armrests rose from the floor on the flick of the chairpersons wand, and with another flick, he conjured a set of manacles, holding the Slytherins feet and arms in place, and a black cloth gag wrapped around his mouth.
"Enervate."
Bartimeus came too. He'd been walking down a corridor by himself. Ever since he'd mugged the third year his life had greatly improved. He no longer wanted the half-blood slut from before. He wondered what he had ever saw in her now that Third Year Pure-blood Pandora had been impressed by him. He never expected the silently cast spell from behind him as he walked to the kitchens. The red light caused him to flop forwards, smacking his head against the unforgiving stone.
As he opened his eyes blearily, he saw he was surrounded by a blinding light within some sort of pitch black chamber. Three dimly illuminated figures were before him, but not light enough to recognise as anything but elder students. His mouth tasted cloth and he felt metal digging into his arms and legs as a wave of panic filled him. He thrashed backwards and forth on the chair in a weak attempt to loosen the bonds, his wordless yell was muffled by the cloth in his mouth.
"Bartimeus."
He fell still at the sound in front of him. He had been taught to remain calm in times of crises. He felt disgusted and ashamed of himself, not only for getting caught, but for panicking before analysing the situation.
"You have been judged guilty of the crime of attacking a member of the Hufflepuff consortium. After torturing her and breaking her bones, you rendered her unconscious. As the teachers are unable to persecute you, we are responding in kind," the voice stepped back from him and paused.
"Begin the chant."
"Badger. Badger. Badger. Badger."
A murmur started and he became aware of the number of students surrounding him. A panic set into his chest.
"Badger. Badger. Badger. Badger."
"Snakey, snakey, Oh no it's a snakey," one of the three before of him mocked, as their wands pointed at his face.
"Badger. Badger. Badger. Badger."
The voices around him raised in volume. The three wands flicked towards him, each throwing a different coloured light. Mushrooms began to sprout from between his fingers on both hands, forcing them open painfully while a stinging hex from the female shaped figure hit him in the groin. The third spell didn't seem to immediately do anything, until he found he had trouble breathing as his noes blocked up. An sharp pain began to fill his sinus as it felt like something was clawing it's way out of his noes. Tears began to fill his eyes as he tried to both gasp for breath and scream out at the same time. An enormous bat burst from his noes, the feeling of his flesh elastically snapping back in place causing him to yell out more as it's claws tore at his eye sockets while it gained flight.
"Badger! Badger! Badger! Badger!"
The sound of gleeful chanting filled his ears as more light flew towards him. Two more bludgeoning hexes his his already tender face, keeping the pain fresh, while a sickly yellow light caused him to become nauseous. Unnatural bile came up his throat, burning it raw as he vomited on himself. Everywhere the vomit touched seemed to sting and burn.
"Badger! Badger! Badger! Badger!"
No longer in waves, a seemingly constant chain of hexes slammed into him, filling his world with pain. Boils sprang up all over his body before being burst by more boils underneath them. His eyes were welded shut by a combination of pus and conjunctivitis. He felt his hair catch alight as a hot sensation came over his head, all the while being hit by more bludgeoning and stinging hexes.
"BADGER! BADGER! BADGER! BADGER!"
Unable to do anything but gasp for breath underneath the gag, Bartimeus' world was pain. His swelled ears well filled with the roar of the frenzied Hufflepuffs, as he continued to spasm against his bonds. He heard an amplified voice cut through.
"Stop!"
The voice of the third year he had attacked cut through the chant and it quickly died down. The spells stopped hitting him and the pain lessened. He was dully able to see her through his swelled eyes as she too was lit up by the light.
"Reducto. Reducto-Reducto."
He felt his ribs groan as the third year cast the first year spell on him. The spells, weaker than his own, didn't immediately break his ribs, but the combined effort was able to. On the third he heard a crack and felt a sharp pain.
"Let this be a warning to you and your fellow house-mates," Simone said as she raised her wand against the boy that tortured her.
"Stupefy."